MLB Trade Rumors: 5 teams who should target Andrew McCutchen

PITTSBURGH, PA - SEPTEMBER 26: Andrew McCutchen #22 of the Pittsburgh Pirates hits a grand slam home run in the second inning during the game against the Baltimore Orioles at PNC Park on September 26, 2017 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The grand slam home run was the first of McCutchen's career. (Photo by Justin Berl/Getty Images) /

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3. Texas Rangers

Putting up runs in bunches has never been an issue for the Texas Rangers. Consistency, on the other hand, has been an issue at times for one of the leagues biggest strikeout teams. The Rangers were fifth in the American League with 799 runs last season, but went through too many stretches where runs were hard to come by. Joey Gallo, Mike Napoli and Rougned Odor combined to strike out in nearly a third of their plate appearances, and the Rangers had the second-highest strikeout total in the league.

The Rangers can’t do much but hope that Gallo and Odor make some progress at the plate and cut down on their whiffs. Both players have long swings and love to hack. Rangers fans shouldn’t be holding their breath. While Texas can’t do much about two of their biggest strikeout culprits, they can upgrade in center field with Andrew McCutchen.

With the enigmatic Carlos Gomez taking the lion’s share of playing time in center field last year, the Rangers received spotty production at best from the position. They were an underwhelming 19th in the league in OPS from their center fielders and got only 20 home runs and 64 RBI to go along with 199 strikeouts. overall.

Free agent Lorenzo Cain has been on the Rangers radar this winter, but it remains unclear how much money the team actually has to spend for the 2018 roster. With Yu Darvish angling for a return to Texas and bigger holes to fill in the rotation, center field could be addressed on a short-term basis with McCutchen. Texas has a deep farm system with plenty of names that would interest the Pirates.

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